November 1918 Signs of the Times: It’s Fun to Stay at the YMCA

Young Man, No Need to Feel Down

AS THE GREAT WAR was winding to an end the same month, the November 1918 issue of Signs of the Times interrupted a months-long streak of the “sign illustrator” cover with a photograph of frontline troops at a YMCA station, framed against a bright red — now weathered by time into orange — triangle that marked the YMCA signs. During the war the organization provided free food (with emphasis on chocolate), books, stationery, entertainment, educational courses and a socializing space for US soldiers to help keep them in high spirits. See complete issues of Signs of the Times dating from 1906 to 1921 at signsofthetimes.com/archive.

• I See France!
  A soldier stationed in France sent a letter to the editor — alongside money for a year’s subscription to Signs of the Times — about French signage, which he felt was several years behind its US counterpart: “Nearly everything I have seen is Roman, whether on a card or a wall. Once in a while they use plain Egyptian, but these two styles almost exclusively … Everything is lettered in straight lines, no swings or panels, and only in three colors.” Looks like he had his priorities right.